1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of controlling an automatic driving robot for a vehicle to enable the automatic driving of a vehicle in a drive-simulating operation and, more particularly, to an automatic driving robot and method of performing a dynamic roadability test of a vehicle with driving wheels contacting the rotary drum of a chassis dynamometer.
2. Description of Related Art
As the propulsion systems of vehicles become more complex and sophisticated, and as environmental concerns require tighter regulation of the emission of pollutants and combustion gases, there has been a demand to provide adequate testing facilities with objective standards for performance of a vehicle. The prior art has been aware of the use of a chassis dynamometer to create an automobile or vehicle driving simulated operation to more closely control an objective standard for a dynamic roadability test.
In an effort to remove the subjective characteristics of a human operator, attempts have been made to replace the human operator with an automatic driving robot so that a plurality of mechanical actuators, for example, driven by oil pressure, air pressure, electric motor, etc., can be utilized to carry out an activation of the accelerator pedal, brake pedal, clutch pedal, and the like, and a corresponding shifting of the shift lever.
As can be appreciated, the operation of these pedals and the shift lever are frequently interrelated. For example, it is necessary to provide a changeover operation of the gearshift lever at a change of speed in addition to activating the appropriate accelerator pedal, brake pedal, and clutch pedal. In coordinating these activities, the prior art has frequently resorted to manual shifting by a human operator of the actuator for driving the gearshift lever, with the visual conformation of the position of the gearshift lever, and then a subsequent memorization of the coordinates in the control system of the driving robot, in order to enable the driving robot to, in effect, learn the various shift position maneuvers.
As can be appreciated, a degree of subjective judgment must be utilized in this training procedure, and a considerable amount of time is expended in a trial and error procedure to accomplish this task. Since ideally the automatic driving robot will be able to service different vehicles, this problem can be both troublesome and relatively expensive in implementing a dynamic roadability test.